There are known and commercially used what are called sweeping machines for sweeping up debris into a hopper or bucket which when full can be dumped for transport to an appropriate place. These sweeping machines include bucket sweepers which have a sweeper and a bucket that are combined with a front end loader, a skid steer, skid loader or similar prime mover. Some of the known sweeper units provide for attaching the sweeper unit to a somewhat conventional bucket so that the unit can be used a sweeper with the bucket or the sweeper can be attached and the bucket used alone. An example of such a unit is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,832. Another example of prior art units using a combined sweeper and bucket or hopper is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,911. Other known units of this type utilize an integrated unit in which the sweeper unit is enclosed within a housing and combined with a hopper or bucket mounted so as to pivot relative to the sweeper unit when it is desired to dump the contents of the bucket.
One of the problems of prior art units of the integrated bucket-sweeper type is that the buckets will hold only a portion of their full, rated capacity, thus requiring frequent dumping of the buckets and resulting in an inefficient use of the operator""s time. Also, with many units, when the gathered material includes dust or other fines, these fines are frequently drawn back through the rotating sweeper brushes and thus generate an excessive amount of dust.
There is therefore a need for an improved integrated bucket sweeper unit in which the effective volume capacity of the bucket can be substantially increased to near the rated capacity and a unit which will also minimize dust generation during operation.
The bucket sweeper combination unit of the invention is used in connection with a skid loader or skid steer which has universal mounts and remote hydraulics that power the unit. The sweeper is mounted to the lift arms of the loader ahead of the bucket. Chains are attached to the rear of the sweeper and the lift arms of the loader, and the bucket is pivotally attached to the mounting arms so that it can be pivoted when it is desired to dump the spoil material. A spoil guard is located on the bucket side of the rotating brush of the sweeper unit so that as the material is picked up by the brush, it will be deflected by the spoil guard directly into the bucket and retained in the bucket by the downwardly extending portion of the spoil guard. Preferably, the spoil guard is made adjustable so that its position can be moved closer to the rotating brush as the bristles wear shorter.